Adam Jackson, Chief Executive Officer of Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, explains how racism and White supremacy have impacted the city of Baltimore during Tuesday’s NewsOne Now State of Emergency: Baltimore and Beyond Town Hall Meeting.
Jackson said that we need to understand that racism and white supremacy is “not about individual White people being mean to you or calling you names.”
“Racism and White supremacy is Freddie Gray being killed in the back of a police van,” he said.
Jackson made the connection between racism and how Baltimore is set up, saying, “you can look at the political infrastructure and the public policies that have been passed and see how systemic racism has affected Baltimore today.”
“For example Martin O’Malley, who is running for president — when he was mayor of Baltimore, set up 757,000 illegal arrests between 1999 and 2007 — see no one wants to talk about that because that is systemic racism and you can look at that and link that to Stephanie Rawlings Blake and her current administration.”
Jackson, who said he represents the grassroots movement in Baltimore, explained that he and many of the young people of the city need to stop accepting “easy answers” regarding pressing issues and continue to organize.
He went on to say, “We don’t need rhetoric, what we need is resources and what we need is support” to help aid in transitioning Baltimore.
Watch the video clip above to see what else Jackson had to say about the situation in Baltimore.
